SBA Offers Disaster Assistance to Residents of Florida Affected by Severe Storms and Tornado in Sarasota County

WASHINGTON Florida businesses and residents affected by the severe storms and tornado in Sarasota County on Jan. 15-17, can apply for low-interest disaster loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration, SBA Administrator Maria Contreras-Sweet announced today.

Contreras-Sweet made the loans available in response to a letter from Gov. Rick Scott on Feb. 2, requesting a disaster declaration by the SBA. The declaration covers Sarasota County and the adjacent counties of Charlotte, DeSoto and Manatee in Florida.

The SBA is strongly committed to providing the people of Florida with the most effective and customer-focused response possible to assist businesses of all sizes, homeowners and renters with federal disaster loans, said Contreras-Sweet. Getting businesses and communities up and running after a disaster is our highest priority at SBA.

Businesses and nonprofit organizations may borrow up to $2 million to repair or replace damaged or destroyed real estate, machinery and equipment, inventory, and other business assets, said SBAs South Florida District Director Francisco Marrero.

For small businesses, small agricultural cooperatives, small aquaculture businesses and most private nonprofit organizations of all sizes, the SBA offers Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDLs) to help meet working capital needs caused by the disaster. EIDL assistance is available regardless of whether the business suffered any physical property damage.

The Center is located in the following community and is open as indicated:

Loans up to $200,000 are available to homeowners to repair or replace damaged or destroyed real estate. Homeowners and renters are eligible for loans up to $40,000 to repair or replace damaged or destroyed personal property, said Frank Skaggs, director of SBAs Field Operations Center East in Atlanta. SBAs customer service representatives are available at the Disaster Loan Outreach Center to answer questions about the disaster loan program and help individuals complete their applications.

Interest rates are as low as 4 percent for businesses, 2.625 percent for nonprofit organizations, and 1.813 percent for homeowners and renters with terms up to 30 years. Loan amount and terms are set by the SBA and are based on each applicants financial condition.

Applicants may be eligible for a loan amount increase up to 20 percent of their physical damages, as verified by the SBA for mitigation purposes. Some improvements now include a safe room or storm shelter to help protect property and occupants from future damage caused by a similar disaster.

Businesses and Individuals may also obtain information and loan applications by calling the SBAs Customer Service Center at 1-800-659-2955 (1-800-877-8339 for the deaf and hard-of-hearing), or by emailing disastercustomerservice@sba.gov. Loan applications can also be downloaded at www.sba.gov/disaster. Completed applications should be returned to the center or mailed to: U.S. Small Business Administration, Processing and Disbursement Center, 14925 Kingsport Road, Fort Worth, TX 76155.

The filing deadline to return applications for physical property damage is April 5, 2016. The deadline to return economic injury applications is Nov. 7, 2016.

The Florida SBDC at the University of South Florida is a member of the Florida SBDC Network, a statewide partnership program nationally accredited by the Association of America’s SBDCs and funded in part by the U.S. Small Business Administration, Defense Logistics Agency, State of Florida, and other private and public partners, with the University of West Florida serving as the network's lead host institution. Florida SBDC services are extended to the public on a nondiscriminatory basis. Language assistance services are available for limited English proficient individuals.